THE THEOLOGICAL FACULTY OF SAN ZENO VERONA Affiliated with the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome MOTHER LEOPOLDINA NAUDET Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family and her WITNESS OF HUMILITY A MESSAGE FOR THE CHURCH OF TODAY A Written Exercise for the Baccalaureate PROFESSOR Fr. Giampietro DePaoli, CSS STUDENT Giulietta TELESE ACCADEMIC YEAR 2001-2002 English Translation by Rev. Joseph Henchey, CSS [2001]
Naudet-Telese Table of Contents 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 4 CHAPTER I 6 THE MATTER OF HUMILITY 1.1 Humility as an Event which flows from the Encounter between God, 8 as manifested in Jesus Christ, and Man 1.1.1. In the OT, the Word of God leads Humanity to Glory 8 through the Path of Humble Submission to God, Creator and Savior 1.1.2 In the NT, the Humility of God, as revealed by Jesus Christ, 9 becomes the Humility of Humanity. 1.2 The Meaning attributed to Humility along the Course of the Centuries 12 1.2.1 Humility in the Greek-Roman World 12 1.2.2 Humility in the Patristic Period 13 1.2.3 Humility in the Middle Ages 13 1.2.4 Humility in the Modern and Post-Modern Epochs 15 1.3 The Contemporary Value of Humility 16 1.3.1 The Foundation of Humility 16 1.3.2 Humility, its Acts and its Properties 18 CHAPTER II 20 HUMILITY IN THE WRITINGS OF MOTHER NAUDET 2.1 In Her Letters 20 2.1.1 Introduction 20 2.1.2 Texts on Humility 21 2.1.2.1 Her Correspondence with Fr. Paccanari 21 2.1.2.2 Her Correspondence with the Beloved of Jesus 23 2.1.2.3 Her Correspondence with Fr. Rozaven 25 2.1.2.4 Her Correspondence with Fr. Bertoni 26 2.1.2.5 Her Correspondence with her Sister, Luisa 27 2.1.2.6 Her Correspondence with Various Personalities 28 2.2 In Her Conferences 32 2.2.1 Introduction 32 2.2.2 Texts on Humility 33 2.2.2.1 Conference on External Mortification 33 2.2.2.2 Conference for the IIIrd Sunday after Epiphany 34 2.2.2.3 Conference on Humility 34
Naudet-Telese Table of Contents 3 2.2.2.4 Conference on the Virtues 35 2.2.2.5 Conference on Simplicity 35 2.2.2.6 Conference on the Spirit of the Institute 36 2.2.2.7 Self-despoilment 36 2.2.2.8 St. Ignatius on Humility 36 2.3 In Her Constitutions 37 2.3.1 Introduction 37 2.3.2 Texts on Humility 39 2.3.2.1 The Compendium of Her Plan 40 2.3.2.2 First Part 40 2.3.2.3 Second Part 40 2.3.2.4 Third Part 42 2.3.2.5 Fourth Part 43 2.3.2.6 The Common Rules 43 2.3.2.7 Summary 44 2.4 In Her Spiritual Writings 46 2.4.1 Introduction 46 2.4.2 Texts on Humility 47 2.4.2.1 Following the Direction of Fr. Nicholas Paccanari 48 2.4.2.2 Following the Direction of Fr. Gaspar Bertoni 56 2.4.2.3 Alone with God Alone 75 CHAPTER III 78 THE PRESENT VALUE OF MOTHER LEOPOLDINA NAUDET S WITNESS OF HUMILITY 3.1. In the Following of Christ, the Christian occupies the Last Place 78 3.2 An Itinerary of Humility traced out by Mother Leopoldina 79 Summary 99 CONCLUSION 100 HISTORICAL APPENDIX 104 BIBLIOGRAPHY 110
Naudet-Telese Introduction 4 INTRODUCTION The intention of this reflection is not that of treating exhaustively the theme of Humility, nor that of celebrating the virtues of Leopoldina Naudet 1. The scope of this study is rather that of considering, reflecting upon and verifying, in the light of the writings of a Christian woman who has preceded us in the pilgrimage of faith, how a humble attitude, so present in Salvation History can still be lived, and whether her experience may still be proposed to Christian men and women who live in a time called by some to be Post-modern. The development of this work is divided into three Chapters: - the First Chapter offers an introduction to the theme of Humility It is necessary to withdraw Humility from any subjectivity, and from devotionism, and to remember that it springs rather from Jesus Christ, who has stated; Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart. [Mt 11:29]. In the light of the renewal brought by the Second Vatican Council 2, this research will seek to grasp what is truly meant by Humility from its being revealed in the Mystery of Jesus Christ, and inserted into Salvation History. Then, we will reflect on that contribution alternating between the Fathers of the Church, and the Spiritual Writers, tapping into the History of the Church. The goal throughout will be that of attempting to affirm the validity of the Witness of Humility, also for men and women of today. - the Second Chapter then gathers certain passages from the Writings of Leopoldina Naudet, in order to present Humility with the unique characteristics of a concrete experience. Among her many writings, we will take into consideration her Letters, Conferences, Constitutions, and Spiritual Writings, because they seem to be her compositions which the more emphatically bring out the Humility that she actually lived. For each one of these writings, the following will be the modality of the work: [1] The presentation of texts in which it is possible to ponder the theme of Humility. [2] These texts will be preceded with a brief historical and descriptive introduction. - the texts actually chosen will permit in the unfolding of the Third Chapter, the attempt at a synthesis of the present-day value of the witness of Leopoldina s Humility. In order to facilitate the operation of an orderly reflection, all the texts quoted will be given a number and preceded by an abbreviation which refers to the immediate source of the idea from the Foundress various writings. These will be as follows: L. = Letters CF. = Conferences C. = Constitutions Ms. = Spiritual Writings 1 Leopoldina Naudet: cf. the Appendix, n. 1. 2 cf. OT 16.
Naudet-Telese Introduction 5 - The Letters will be sub-divided into groups, keeping in mind the various persons to whom they were addressed. - only those Conferences, will be taken into consideration where the theme of Humility is expressly considered. - as for her Constitutions, all of these are permeated with Humility, and so there will be presented certain passages regarding the virtue, following the original order, in order to grasp from them the context into which these have been inserted. - her Spiritual Writings are generally considered her most precious writings for anyone interested in understanding the spirituality of Mother Leopoldina Naudet. It is a collection of manuscripts of a spiritual character. Following the sub-division as presented in her Cause of Beatification and Canonization 3, under the heading of the Discussion of her Virtues, we will subdivide this research into three successive paragraphs according to the chronological order which coincides with the different periods of Spiritual Direction she received over the years from Fathers Paccanari and Bertoni, and lastly for that stretch of time when for all practical purposes she did not have formal spiritual direction. - in the Third Chapter we will discuss the matter whether in this 21 st Century it is still worthwhile to speak of humility, for the simple reason that it would seem that our modern society allows itself to be impressed only with success at any cost. We will offer some reflection on how to bring together the paradox noted in the desire to have the first place, with the invitation of Jesus Christ to take the last place at the table of this world. In the light of the writings of Mother Naudet, we will attempt to trace an Itinerary of humility, having as its foundation that Humility of Jesus Christ and some insight will be meditated on how this might be an expressive witness for the believers of all time. 3 cf. Positio, See Appendix, n. 2.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 6 CHAPTER I THE MATTER OF HUMILITY The great humility of Mother Leopoldina was recognized by so many who knew her 4 : Fr. Charles Maggi, who was her Confessor, and who ministered to her while she was dying, wrote: Lady Leopoldina, that soul who was so dear to God, how exact she was in manifesting her conscience, and in not ever being ruled by her own judgment alone, while she was all the more discerning in hiding her own virtues with a rare level of humility. This virtue was very extended in her, and the foundation of all the others 5 Before analyzing how Leopoldina lived Humility, we need to ask: What is Humility? This might seem to be a rhetorical question, but it is not. The reason is because there is no virtue which has been placed under such discussion in the history of Christianity as Humility has 6. Fr. Dalmazio Mongillo, OP, in the New Dictionary of Spirituality, states that Humility is one of the most ambiguous, the fullest of equivocations in the entire spiritual and religious language 7. Humility is even thought to be a suspect virtue because it comes to us, weighed down with its inheritance that renders this an individual virtue, the goal of the quest of each individual s self-perfection. It often appears synonymous with the self-annihilation of the creature before God, who is all and the diminution of oneself before others, an attitude that today is thought to be no longer fitting to describe God - Who does not crush human beings down, but lifts up human nature and values humanity. At times, it might even seem to be making reference to a false attitude, an effort to show oneself to be even less than that which each person realizes she may already be. It follows from all this that to speak of humility is not easy, especially today, in the light of the interpretations of the masters of suspicion, who have left their mark on our culture. According to Nietzsche, Humility is the great lie of the weak, who in their passivity succeed in this manner to give cleverly an appearance of authentic virtue. For Freud, Humility is a masochistic variant of a guilt-complex. For Adler, Humility is very close to an inferiority complex. Furthermore, how does one reconcile enslavement [which is very close to the ancient Latin term, humilitas ] as proposed by some American psychologists? 8 How can one make sense today of always choosing the last place according to the Gospel saying, with a 4 In the Recollections of Metilda di Canossa, one may read that she truly desired to the smallest of all; in the Reminiscences of Sophia Gagnere, it is related that she often said that to take any glory in that which God achieves through us is to render oneself culpable of the most crass thievery, cited in Fr. Nello Dalle Vedove s From the Court to the Cloister. Lady Leopoldina Naudet, Foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family, Scuola Tipografica Missioni Padri Stimmatini, Verona 1954, p. 399. 5 Cf. Lettera da Reggio a Metilde di Canossa, November 16, in Nello Dalle Vedove, Dalla corte al chiostro o.c., pp. 400. 6 cf. Edward KACZYNSKI, Umilta, in: Nuovo Dizionario di Teologia Morale. ed. by Fr. Compagnoni, G. Piana, S. Privitera. Roma: Paoline 1990, p. 1392. 7 cf. Dalmazio MONGILLO, OP, Umilta, in: Nuovo Dizionario di Spiritualità, ed. by S. DiFLORES and T. GOFFI. Roma: Paoline 1985, p. 1610. 8 cf. A. LOUF, L umiltà a translation cared for by the Monastic Community of Bose, in: Sumpathetika. Magnano [BI]: Ed. Qiqajon 2000, passim.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 7 world in which it is necessary to struggle in order to be first, since only the one is first place receives any notice? A further difficulty is represented by a certain ambiguity which remains bound to the very idea of humility? On the one hand, following the development of Salvation History and of Tradition, there is bestowed on Humility an important place, one that absolutely can never be renounced, in the experience of the believer. However, on the other hand, when one tries to speak of the Christian virtues, there is always some difficulty in finding the proper place for it, even though so many authors are convinced of its priority. We note, then, that there is difficulty in recognizing Humility as a virtue up to the Middle Ages, and this is because it is difficult to express the absolute primacy of Humility in the categories of philosophical moral from which it is necessary to begin in order to explain the virtues 9. The same definition finds greater support in not being considered so much as a virtue, but as the foundation, the bond of all the other virtues: Humility is the mother, the root, the foundation, the bond of all virtues, is the testimony of St. John Chrysostom. However, the on-going effort has consistently remained in making Humility a virtue, and above all in making it a unit of measure of the esteem greater or lesser, that one would nourish toward herself, with the risk of even weakening its importance to a considerable degree. For this reason, in the Second Chapter of this study, the effort will be made to analyze humility in a concrete experience, that lived by Mother Leopoldina Naudet, in order to try then to grasp, even more than the specific virtue of Humility, a state of Humility, i.e., in the original sense of the Greek word, tapeinosis, regarding a condition of abasement. It is a condition which, in Faith, it brings about the realization that the Humility of God, unveiled by Jesus Christ [cf. Ph 2:8], becomes the humility of a believing person, in this case of one Leopoldina Naudet. In order to do this, it is necessary to withdraw Humility from any subjectivity and from any pietistic devotion, and to remember that it is born in Jesus Christ, Who states: Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart [cf. Mt 11:29]. For Christianity, any reflection on Humility is always one a reflection on humanity [the anthropological dimension], on God [the theological dimension], and on the relationship between God and man [the historic-salvific dimension], recognizing its Christological root. Therefore, in the light of the renewal brought by the Second Vatican Council [cf. OT 16], in order to be able to grasp the authentic meaning of Humility, this reflection will begin with its foundation in the Mystery of Jesus Christ, inserted then into Salvation History then, the consideration will unfold regarding the contribution brought by the Fathers of the Church and by the spiritual teachers throughout the History of the Church, to see whether it is possible to communicate the validity of the witness of humility to the men and women of this time. 9 NB: St. Thomas Aquinas, of course, did not find Christian Humility in the list of the fundamental virtues formulated by Aristotle. He would catalogue Christian Humility as part of Temperance, considering it as a restraint on the soul. Summa Theologiae, II-II, q. 161, a. 4.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 8 1.1 Humility as an Event that flows from the Encounter between God, as manifested in Jesus Christ, and Humanity. In these paragraphs, the effort will be to offer a synthesis of the development of the concept of Humility in Salvation History. 1.1.1 In the Old Testament, the Word of God leads Humanity to Glory through the Path of Humble Submission to God, Creator and Savior. In the OT, Humility is seen as an attitude of the spirit, which explains its proper positive effects before God and before other human beings. Before God, Humility means an expression of piety, justice. God protects the humble [cf. Mi 6:8], He consoles them [cf. Is 57:15], He raises them up [cf. Ps 147:6] and enters into communion with them [cf. Ps 51:19]. By means of Humility before one s fellow human beings, one can find God [cf. 2 Ch 36:12]: In the OT, there is no mention of the Humility of God, but only of the Humility of men and women, and it stands out in the obedient and submissive conduct toward God and towards the leaders of the people. As for the humble attitude toward God, the believer is induced to it by the realization that each one is created by God and depends upon Him for life [cf. Gn 2:7; 18:27] 10 Along-side being an attitude of the spirit, Humility also indicates the situation of smallness, of the necessity of poverty, so the poor can also be considered as the humble ones. The terms utilized in Hebrew to indicate the poor, are ani and anaw, deriving from the same verb anah : meaning to be lowly, bent over, weighed down. These terms basically describe the socio-economic aspect of poverty, both as an interior attitude, as well as a material situation 11 : In the Wisdom Books, the term anawah loses its social-economic connotations, coming to express only an interior attitude [cf. Pr 15:33; 18:22; Si 3:17-20] 12. The term assumes a religious meaning beginning with the Prophet Zephaniah: to seek God means to seek poverty, which is Humility [cf. Zp 2:3]. After the Day of the Lord, the remnant of the People of God will be humble and poor [cf. Zp 3:12 the Greek expressions here are prays and tapeinos cf. Mt 11:29; Ep 4:2]. In the OT, the models of this Humility are Moses, the most humble of men [cf. Nb 12:3], and the mysterious Servant who, with his humble submission unto death, realizes the Plan of God [cf. is 53:4-10]. On the return from Exile, the Prophets and Wisdom writers will preach Humility since the Most High dwells with the one who has a humble spirit and a contrite heart [cf. Is 57:15; 66:2]. The fruit of humility is the fear of God, richness, glory and life.. [cf. Pr 22:4] - The greater you are, the more humbly you should behave, and then you will find favor with the Lord [cf. Si 3:18; cf. also Dn 3:39]. Lastly, Zechariah announces that the Messiah will be a humble king; he will enter Sion, riding on a donkey [cf. Zc 9:9]. Truly, the God of Israel, the King of Creation, is the God of the Humble [cf. Jdt 9:11, ff.] 13. 10 cf. E. Kaczynski, op. cit., p. 1393. 11 cf. P. ADNES, Humilité. In: Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, Tome VII, First Part, Paris: Beauchesne 1969, pp. 1143-1144. 12 cf. Kaczynski, o.c., p. 1393. 13 cf. M.F. LACAN, Umilta, in: Dizionario di teologia Biblica, ed. by Aa.Vv., Torino: Marietti 1917, p. 1311.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 9 1.1.2 In the NT, the Humility of God, unveiled by Jesus Christ becomes the Humility of Human Beings. We have two groups of words in the NT to express the act of humbling oneself, the submission of one person to another, or to the power of another, which is imposed through events. In these cases, one person becomes praus, tapeinos. The two groups of words are bound among themselves by the fact that they have basically, in many passages, the same Hebrew word Many times the words of both groups are used in the same context 14 a.] praus: meek, humble epieikes: meek, clement, good these words in the NT are present in the Pauline Letters, 1 P, Ac and Mt. The influence of the OT is evident only in Mt while for the rest of these documents is borrowed prevalently from their Hellenistic meaning. 1. praus and epiekes are Typical Indications of the Lordship of Jesus Christ: against those who would hold for a political Messiahship, Jesus rejects the employment of force in order to establish the Reign of God. His action on earth is that of a non-violent salvific king, alien to war as was prefigured in the OT [cf. Mt 11:29; 21:5; cf. Zc 9:9]. From the moment, though, that at the base of Mt 11:29 there is a Semitic manner of thinking, there is added that the word praus indicates also the humble condition of the Messiah. In 2 Co 10:1, Paul mentions praus and the epieikeia as a characteristic attitude of Jesus Christ in the presence of His contemporaries during His earthly life, and calling to mind His example, Paul exhorts the Church in this direction. 2. These words designate also an attitude that is then required of Christians [cf. Ac 24:4; 1 P 2:18]. In Mt 5:5, praus appears as the mark of the life of the disciples: as the virtue of those who will inherit the land, i.e., who will have dominion over this world. However, Jesus thinks here also of the poor about whom the OT speaks [this is a citation of Ps 37:11]: those who are now oppressed and disdained have obtained the promise that one day matters will be over-turned in their favor. This Beatitude is fundamentally an implicit affirmation of Jesus Himself: He is the Savior of the Poor. When the NT exhorts all to the praytes, this does not refer to a manner of conducting oneself exercised by the human will, but rather manifests precisely where human beings are in communion with Jesus Christ and they are ever more uniformed to His image through the intervention of the Holy Spirit 15. b. [tapeinos a humble condition, inferior, humble tapeinophrosune = humility : These terms in the NT are present often [cf. Mt 4; Lk 7; Ac 2; Rm 1; 2 Co 4; Ep 1; Ph 4; Col 3; Jas 4; 1 P 4]. The word is absent in Mk, in the Johannine writings and in those letters not mentioned 16. 1. The use of these terms in Mt and Lk is intimately bound to the announcement of the eschatological coming of the Royal Lordship of God. The new content that emerges 14 cf. W. BAUDER, Umilta, in: Dizionario dei concetti biblici del NT. ed. by Aa.Vv. Bologna: EDB 1986, p. 1902. 15 cf. W. BAUDER, o.c., pp. 1903-1905. 16 cf. H. H. ESSER, Umilta, meekness, in: Dizionario dei concetti biblici del NT. Ed. by Aa. Vv. Bologna: EDB 1986, p. 1907.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 10 here is variously connected to OT texts and with Judaic literature. The theme is announced by Lk in the Infancy narrative of Jesus: in her Hymn, the Mother of Jesus, takes words from the OT [cf. 1 S 1:11; cf. Ps 113:5, f.] she praises the greatness of the Lord, Who has looked upon the lowly state of His Servant [cf. 1:48, servant, slave, suggests the meaning of humility cf. v. 38] and He has raised up the lowly [cf. 1:52; cf. 1 S 2:7; Jb 5:11; Ps 75:8; Ezk 21:31]. The entire undertaking of St. John the Baptist is placed at the service of the coming of God; in preparation for this event, every mountain and every hill will be laid low, as is written in the prophecy of is 40: 3, ff. Lastly, Jesus, the One Who is to come, uses the path of humility [Mt 11:29] 17. Jesus reveals Himself as humble ; He is humble towards His contemporaries; He is also humble of heart, i.e., in the presence of God; in other words, He is completely submitted to Him, and therefore, He can call to Himself all those who are wearied and oppressed, promising eschatological peace to all those who will follow Him. 2. In Paul, the Hymn found in Ph 2:6-11 shows Jesus Christ, Who empties Himself [cf. Ph 2:7 kenos = emptied], through His Self-humiliation is raised up to the point of exaltation achieved by God. Christ s Self-humiliation is the basis and renders possible the new life under His Lordship [cf. vv. 10, ff.] His is a life that will be explained in an availability to the service in harmony with His example [cf. v. 5: have in yourselves the same sentiments that were in Christ Jesus]. The meaning of this Self-humiliation is defined concretely by the path followed by Jesus: to become obedient even unto death, and a death that was extremely shameful, such as that on the Cross. He knew of no other support than the almost unbelievable promise of the faithfulness of God 18. When mention is made of humility in Jesus, this does not refer only to a quality in which Jesus would have come to give us an example, but rather this is the genuine and proper path of salvation, the first stage of which consists in an inevitable abasement. This is a matter of the Paschal journey, to which every Christian is called, to follow after Jesus. In humiliation and in the glory of the Cross, Jesus has revealed the meaning and the ultimate goal of that invitation to share the yoke, i.e., the style of the Father s love, the source of all love, the font and path of the definitive and conclusive Covenant. God, Whom humanity accepts and loves in Jesus Christ, is God-made-man; God, Who is love, sacrifice, gift, Kenosis, God Who limits Himself in order to raise up humanity from His misery, in order to share filiation with each in His Son, the ambience, the subject and the term of His revelation 19 3. In Ac 8:33, the citation of Is 53:8 has the function of making comprehensible the sense of Jesus humiliation and exaltation. 4. The exhortations of Jas and 1 P do not add anything new to the exhortations to the OT humility, and to that presented by Paul 20. 17 cf. H. H. ESSER, o.c., pp. 1907-1908. 18 cf. H. H. ESSER, o.c., p. 1908. 19 cf. D. MONGILLO, Umiltà, in: Nuovo Dizionario di Spiritualità, ed. by S. DeFLORES and T. GOFFI. Roma: Paoline 1985, pp. 1615-1616. 20 cf. H. H. ESSER, o.c. p. 1909.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 11 On the basis of an analysis of terms, Humility assumes a light of its own in the Mystery of the Incarnation and of Redemption. It can be said that in the NT, the determining characteristic of Christian Humility is the Will of being conformed to Jesus Christ, humble, obedient to the Father s Will. The Humility of Jesus Chris, Model for His disciples, and is known to us through His words and His life. Christ has come to bring the Good news to the Poor [cf. Mt 11:5] 21. He presents Himself to us as meek and humble of heart [cf. Mt 11:29] 22. Jesus blesses the little children and presents them to us as models [cf. Mk 10:15, f.] 23. Far from seeking His own glory [cf. Jn 8:50], He humbles Himself to the point of washing the feet of His disciples [cf. Jn 13:14, f.] 24. It is that Humility of one who has come to serve and not to be served [cf. Mt 20:28; Ph 2:1-=2]. The Humility of Jesus Christ is the sublime expression of the spirit of service 25. The Christian is called to be humble as her Master, and she is called to follow Him [cf. Ph 2:5]. Humility in Jesus Christ becomes His will of abandoning Himself confidently into the loving hands of His Father [cf. Jn 4:34]. Making her own the style of love for the Father as revealed by Jesus Christ, each Christian is called to concretize it [cf. Col 3:12-14] in the service of her fellow human beings [cf. Rm 12:10], and of the most weak among them [cf. Rm 14:1] it is clear that such Humility is bound to charity. Humility has nothing to do with that weakness, or passivity on the contrary, it demands a full commitment to the service of God and of human beings. Humility is not the attitude of slaves, but of free human beings who are full of love. The manifestations of Humility are nothing other than characterizations of the unique Christian precept of charity [cf. 1 Co 13:4-7] 26. In conclusion it might be said that: - in the OT, there is no mention of the Humility of God, but only of human Humility the Word of God leads a follower to glory through the pathway of humble submission to God, the Creator and Savior; - in the NT, the Word of God becomes flesh in Christ Jesus in order to lead humanity to the heights of Humility which consists in serving God in one s neighbors, in humbling oneself out of love for the purpose of glorying God, at work saving humanity 27. 1.2 The Meaning attributed to Humility along the Course of the Centuries: faith always undergoes a process of inculturation. The question needs to be posited in what pertains to Humility, in this long process, that lasted for centuries, keeping in mind the particular emphases of the environment in which it is incarnated, whether or not Humility has been a victim of some alteration. Here the reflection will consider how Humility was understood in the Greek-Roman world, then in the Patristic Period, and finally in the modern epoch. 21 cf. G. ROSSI, Umiltà, in : Dizionario Enciclopedico di Teologia Morale. Ed. by Aa. Vv. Roma: Paoline 1974, p. 1192. 22 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1393. 23 cf. M.F. LACAN, o.c., p. 1311. 24 ib. 25 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1393. 26 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c. p. 1192. 27 cf. M. F. LACAN, o.c., p. 1312.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 12 1.2.1 Humility in the Greek Roman World Many Fathers of the Church sought to research in the thinkers of antiquity to see whether there was any intuition of the eventual Christian realities? A question might be: was there any pagan humility? The Latin terms humilis and humilitas, as their corresponding Greek concepts, are etymologically connected with the word humus, and imply something like pertaining to the earth, lowly, something that can be disdained - in referring to persons, in a figurative sense, these terms would figuratively designate somebody of little importance, the obscurity of one s origins, the baseness of someone s character. That which is base cannot of itself constitute a virtue, or a positive trait. However, while employing a different vocabulary, classical antiquity knows of categories that make one think in some way of the Christian ideal of Humility 28. One example would be the ideal of proper measure, which is the principal rule of ancient morality, affirmed that virtue resides in a just measure, in the just perception of one s proper limits. If the reflection on Humility concentrates on the Greek-roman world, there is noted that the morality of the Greeks, from Socrates on ward, was based on the under-lying principle: Know thyself! - a slogan written in the temple of Delphi. In the interpretation of those times, this motto meant: remember that you are mortal, and not a God! However, the interpretation that Socrates would make of this shows a more intense moral characteristic, i.e., he understands this as the realization of one s own ethic is a nothing, the acceptance of one s deficiency, of one s own insufficient being 29. However, the original meaning for the classical world is that every person needs to recognize that she is a mortal being, and not divine, and therefore, each one ought to avoid every excess of wealth, power, happiness because all of these would lead her to the most serious catastrophes 30. This honest recognition of oneself as mortal is not understood as humility toward God, because the Greek world did not have the concept of God as Creator, or Transcendent. Even the Stoics, who counseled modesty, patience, self-dominion, did not consider humility toward God, due to their pantheistic view of the world 31. The Christian notion of Humility implies the recognition of the transcendancy of a personal God, and that of our creaturely status, ideas that had not totally invaded pagan philosophy 32 Furthermore, for Christians, even before being an attitude to assume, Humility is understood as a manner of being, and of entering into relationships. It characterizes a person in the manner of evaluating and accepting oneself both in the position that one assumes in this world, and how one stands before God 33. 28 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1190. 29 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1392. 30 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p.1190. 31 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1392. 32 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1191. 33 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., p. 1610.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 13 1.2.2 Humility in the Patristic Period : Among the Apostolic Fathers, Humility is reduced to the prevailing designation of a penitential attitude of its practical expressions, [especially in First Clement and Hermes] 34 It is not possible, given their vastness, to recall here all the writings of this period pertaining to Humility 35, and so there will be recalled here a few concepts that recur the most often: a. The Specificity of the Christian Virtue of Humility: St. Augustine summarizes the entire Christian life in the antithesis between pride and humility, and he brings out its specifically Christian character 36 The Fathers are unanimous in affirming that Humility is not a virtue like the others, but rather stands at the base of every virtue and is a characteristic of every proper relationship between humanity and God. Furthermore, they are unanimous in proclaiming that pride is the root, the source of sin, and Humility is the principle of the return to God. b. Humility consists in recognizing that which one is: For Augustine, Humility is the beginning, the way, and the culmination of the conversion to God, and it is bound to the knowledge of oneself also as a sinner... 37 For the Fathers, Humility does not consist in the lowering of oneself below one s proper condition, but in the recognizing who each one is, not only in the limited human nature as the Oracle of Delphi admonished, but above all in the sinful human condition. This disposition of spirit renders the humble person open to the divine action and capable of reaching with Jesus Christ one s own authentic grandeur 38. 1.2.3 Humility in the Middle Ages: the Augustinian ethical thought, in addition to being continued by St. Bernard, would be divulgated by the work of St. Gregory for the monastic asceticism. In the Benedictine monastic life and in the Cistercian as well, the virtues are indicated within a well organized orientation. They assume a beginnings of a systematization. The monastic life, in so far as it is virtuous, is a struggle against the vices, and it is the art of living well under the influence of charity. It is expressed above all in Humility, which is explained as the form of charity. Humility is the general manner of situating oneself before God, oneself and others. Along-side Humility, there are held in great esteem obedience, silence, the virtue of religion. In general, the monastic theology of the 12 th Century, there was noted an evangelical seven-fold number of virtues: poverty, humility, meekness, compunction, piety, purity and mercy 39 St. Benedict of Norcia, in his Rule, resents Humility as the foundation, the mother and mistress of every virtue and of love itself. 34 cf. H. H. ESSER, o.c., p. 1910. 35 cf. P. ADNES, o.c., pp. 1152-1164. 36 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1394. 37 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1394. 38 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1192. 39 cf. T. GOFFI, Virtu morali, in: Dizionario Teologico Interdiscipolinare. Ed. by Aa. Vv., Torino: 1977, p. 551.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 14 The monastic tradition was concerned above all with knowing the paths in order to reach Humility. Among these, in addition to prayer and the consideration of one s own sins, manual labor and corporal fatigue have a fundamental place 40 St. Bernard, following in the path traced out by the monastic tradition of Cassian and St. Benedict, concerned himself with the Degrees of Pride and Humility. In his treatise on The Grades of Humility and Pride, he writes as follows: Humility is the virtue, thanks to which a person, through the process of an authentic knowledge of self, considers that she is of lowly condition. The fruit of humility is the truth, which is its first degree; successively, humility disposes one to charity, which is its second degree, where the person in her lowering of herself loves her neighbor in a disinterested manner; finally, humility breaks out into contemplation of the Truth of God, which is its third stage. In the first degree the Son will act; in the second, the Holy Spirit; and in the third, God the Father 41 The work of St. Thomas Aquinas which for much time served as the basis of many treatises on Humility merits a particular interest. In the plan of the virtues in the Summa Theologiae, Humility is placed among those virtues connected to temperance, and precisely, to modesty. For St. Thomas, the achievement of goods, whether moral or spiritual, demands two virtues: one in order to restrain and moderate the exaggerated aspirations of man, and this is Humility; and the other, in order to preserve man from being overwhelmed, and to urge him onward in the conquest of great goals, and this is magnanimity 42 The magnanimity understood in the Christian sense is not opposed to Humility; the perfection of Humility demands in fact that the recognition of one s own nothingness and of one s own sins be accompanied by a parallel recognition and a courageous utilization of the great gifts received from God 43 Humility implies knowledge of the person, of the natural and supernatural capacities, in order to know what is the place assigned to each person by God in the plan of redemption 44 In the thought of St. Thomas, Humility enjoys three points of reference: - Towards Oneself: attending to the rules of right reason, Humility clarifies for each one the exact esteem of one s own abilities. - Towards Others: the Humility which regulates the relationship with God regulates also that with one s neighbor. Each person being submitted to God can think that in one s neighbor there is some good that she does not have, or also, that in oneself that maybe some evil that is not found in others, and thus each person can consider herself under herself below her neighbors. - Towards God: the humble attitude before God has nothing to do with humiliation, because each person may elevate herself in proportion to the more she submits herself to God with humility. 40 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 551. 41 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1394. 42 II-II, q. 161, a. 1; cf. also E. KAZCYNSKI, o.c., p. 1394. 43 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1193. 44 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p.1394.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 15 How is one to achieve Humility? St. Thomas indicates two ways the first and the principal way is grace in so far as Humility, as all the other authentic virtues, flows from it as it operative principle; the second way is personal effort. As all genuine virtues, humility is a virtue that is infused by God 45 1.2.4 Humility in the Modern and Post-Modern Epochs: the authors of the 16 th and 17 th centuries have strongly emphasized the importance of Humility in the spiritual life. The Imitation of Christ served to pre-announce the modern spirituality: the work opens with an appeal to Humility, and returns to this in all the books, as its preferred theme 46. St. Ignatius of Loyola, at the end of the Second Week of the Spiritual Experience of the Exercises, proposes for the Retreatant three grades of Humility: - the first is an essential degree in order to be saved: it is that which places the soul under the Law of God, which obliges under pain of mortal sin; [God obliges under pain of sin because he loves humanity, as the mother would have recourse to threats when the child grows, she will understand that this was all out of love; - the second degree, more perfect, creates in the soul a complete indifference of will and of affection between wealth and poverty, honors and disdain, a long life or a short one, provided that God be equally glorified. For no reason in this world, would one commit even a single venial sin; - the third degree demands even more: in order to imitate Jesus Chris, to prefer as He would, poverty over riches, the disdain over honors, and the desire to be held as the most useless and stupid person out of love for Jesus Christ, Who wished in the first place to be considered as such, rather than to be held as a wise and prudent man in the eyes of this world. For St. Ignatius, to advance in the way of perfection it is required to go out from oneself, to understand the emptiness of creatures, in order to make way for the Creator. It does not mean to undergo mortification, simply for mortification s sake, but to deny oneself in order to stay with Jesus Christ: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me! [cf. Mk 8:34] 47. St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross illustrate the function of acquired humility and especially of infused humility as an element that knows of no substitution in order to reach contemplation. The French School of the 16 th Century develops the theme of the nothingness of creatures before God and strongly emphasizes the necessity of humiliations 48 In the 19 th and 20 th centuries, philosophical, psychological and sociological research has been concerned in a certain measure with Humility. According to Nietzsche, humility is the virtue that is proper to slaves in capable of vindicating themselves before their masters 49. M. Scheler, in his work on the re-evaluation of the virtues, has in mind the objections brought forward by f. Nietzsche to the life of virtue in general, and to humility in particular. For f. Nietzsche, 45 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1394. 46 cf. Imitazione di Cristo, a cura di Giovanni Bacchini [In Latin and Italian] Milano: Edizioni Ares 1996. 47 cf. St. IGNATIUS of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, A New Translation by Louis J. Pohl, SJ. Westminster: The Newman Press 1963. 48 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1193. 49 ib.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 16 humility is the expression of the moral resentment of the weak, a dangerous and calumnious ideal in order to hide the sniveling fear of taking up life decisively and with courage. Scheler, in conducting a phenomenological analysis of the virtues, presents humility as the most delicate, the most mysterious and the most beautiful of the Christian virtues rather, it is the Christian virtue, par excellence 50. 1.3 The Contemporary Value of Humility The preceding brief panoramic view on the meanings and varying vicissitudes of Humility, throughout the History of Spirituality, is sufficient to have one understand the difficulty of correctly classifying it. This however, does not impede seek to grasp from within Humility the central message which today still has value. 1.3.1 The Foundation of Humility: Humility is concretized and grows in historical situations, but may not be reduced to any single one of its manifestations: it needs these, verifies them and transcends them all 51. This study has already pointed out how varied and insidious are the objections brought up against the virtue of humility all through the long course of the centuries. P. deberulle, J. Eudes, N. Malabranche and others, however, conceived Humility as self-emptying, abnegation 52. Finally, in our own times, J. Pieper, stating that Humility is not an attitude of doing self-harm, or denigrating one s own being and personal activity, tries to present a just perspective in all this discussion. In the course of the centuries, it has been held that Humility would be directed either by the conscience, or by the will, or by an interior sentiment. The directing rule of Humility consists in the knowledge of oneself, and this might be found in that old axiom of Socrates and of the Stoics, know thyself. This, then, was taken up by Augustine and the Christian mystics for whom Humility consists in walking according to the truth. St. Thomas Aquinas adds that the knowledge of oneself and of one s own place in the world created and saved by God is the norm of Humility towards oneself, towards the world, towards others and towards God 53. The common opinion is that the origin of Humility might be sought in the area of lowliness, baseness. In the OT and in the NT, the consciousness of human dependence as a creature and as a sinner on God the Creator and Savior is the fundamental motive of the humble attitude. In all the presentations of Humility, there emerges the recognition of human limitations, the fundamental element which in a certain sense is common to Christianity and to pagan thought. According to modern psychology, the recognition of one s proper limits is the indispensable foundation of the psychic balance and of human maturity. Revelation reminds the believer that without the direct experience of poverty and of humiliation, it is difficult to achieve spiritual humility, and powerfully brings out that there is an ulterior motive to lower human pride: the common condition of sin 54. 50 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1395. 51 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., 1617. 52 cf. P. ADNES, o.c., pp. 1177-1178. 53 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c. pp. 1395-1396. 54 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., pp. 1193-1194
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 17 The realization of one s own inconsistency and weakness is influenced by Protestant theology, which affirms that a two-fold recognition is at the source of Humility: that of our creaturely state, and that of the fault inherent in sins. These elements define the negative aspect of this virtue. For a positive and integral conception, it is necessary to keep in mind a further essential aspect: the recognition of the dignity of human nature and of grace. Humanity, created by God and saved by Christ, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, has to recognize the gratuity of all the gifts received: the Gifts of intelligence and of freedom, of grace and of all the virtues connected to this. The similarity with God and with Jesus Christ from the visage of the authentic Christian virtue of humility 55. The content of humility in Christianity is part of Salvation History. On the one hand, it is connected with the complex situation in the strength of which man, at the very origins of his history, rebelled against the Plan of God and from the other hand, in the light of the deliverance of the human situation that took place in Jesus Christ 56 Jesus Christ reveals the greatest novelty of Christian Humility. The Kenosis of the Word has shown believers that authentic greatness consists in a voluntary abasement, animated by charity and directed toward the service of one s neighbors 57. Humility is the way, the pedagogy, chosen by God, and each believer ought to conform herself along her pathway. Humility is the radical condition in which there is matured the believer s positive response to God, which requires one to renounce evil, egoism, in order to adhere to Jesus Christ along the path of the Incarnation, it is an adherence to that way that Jesus Christ has constructed in the obedience of His flesh. Humility is that personal relationship has been chosen by God in Jesus Christ and this still holds it weight today for the Christian. The humble of heart live and grow into Jesus Christ, and allow themselves to be led by His Spirit in their evaluation of situations and other persons, in truth and rectitude. The Spirit of God in Jesus Christ is the unique, supreme font, to which the believer, of every historical epoch, is inspired and from each one is vivified. But, from always, one arrives at the recognition of God in Jesus Christ only through the way of conversion and Humility is rooted in this and takes life. Jesus Christ, Who is the font of Humility, constitutes also its paradox and scandal. In and from Jesus Christ, the believer brought to light in His meek and humble heart, and thereby learns to be meek and humble of heart. It is necessary to be enrolled in the School of Jesus Christ, Who reveals to each person the path of humanity. However, His life and His judgments are not those that human beings would like. His life is the path of poverty, of meekness, and this contrasts with power, strength and a guaranteed result. It is necessary to find inspiration from the Crucified, to a Conqueror in His defeat. Jesus Christ presents Himself as the One Who has overcome death, but after this He subjected Himself to it. The Cross is revealed as the power in the mystery of total abnegation without reserve 58. 55 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.p., p. 1396. 56 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., p. 1616. 57 cf. G. ROSSI, o.c., p. 1194. 58 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., pp. 1617-1618.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 18 His own are called to suffer with Jesus Christ, in a suffering that is presented as the source of the most sublime happiness. It is not any form of masochism that Jesus asks of, but rather perfect happiness: the most sublime happiness emerges where men and women are capable of supporting, at peace with pain, without rebelling against God, without unleashing violence on others. The Christological itinerary becomes for each believer an Itinerary of Happiness 59. Humility, therefore, is not some abstract attitude, or being bereft of any precise traits. It means a life in Jesus Christ in Him, a man matures manners of conduct which characterize the children of God still today. Humility is a person of all times, is one who adheres to Jesus Christ, and follows Him wherever He goes. 1.3.2 Humility, its Acts and Its Properties Christian Humility is based on the evidence of the total dependence on God in all the dimensions of life presented in the perspective of Salvation History, which finds its central point in Jesus Christ and its realization in the Church, by means of the Holy Spirit 60 Humility consists in having that esteem of oneself, that respect, which corresponds to the truth of one s own place in the bosom of the world, created and saved by God. This does not exclude the joy and satisfaction of those goods which are possessed, provided that one does not attribute these to herself, but to God, the Giver of every good. Four principal acts of Humility might be enumerated: [1] to thank both the Lord, and others, for the good received, and not to nourish any rancor for human ingratitude; [2] to know how to receive gratefully the good of others, recognizing one s own need of good, truth, and other values; [3] to know how to contribute good and to know how to give of oneself to others; [4] to ask pardon of the Lord and of one s neighbor for wrongs committed, and to extend pardon in our turn 61. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider that Humility is expressed in the manner of existing, where one is situated, and of before reality. There are two aspects that need to be brought out that will recur many times in the writings of Mother Leopoldina, that will be discussed in the chapter that follows: a. Humility as a Spirit of Service: the humble person feels the responsibility toward the community and the common good. The humble individual always gives of herself in those gifts that she may spread about and this is Jesus own attitude: the Son of Man has not come to be served, but to serve [cf. Mt 20:28]. A spirit of such service is nothing other than a manifestation of love the gift of which Vatican II speaks: Man on earth is the only creature whom God wants for Himself, and thus, can only find himself fully through a selfless gift of himself. [cf. GS 24]. 59 cf. X. PIKAZA, Questo e l uomo. ROMA: Borla 1999, pp. 359-360. 60 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c. p. 1399. 61 ib., p. 1396.
Naudet-Telese Chapter One 19 Humility as a spirit of service turns to the profit of the entire community and not only of personal self-realization, and for this it is indispensable that the members of the Christian community have an interior attitude of service. Humility, as the spirit of commitment and of service, inspires a person to fight against the evils of the human condition of whatever type they may be: economic, political, cultural, national and international, and never permits one to remain passive and active in their presence. However, the humble person cannot become either the slave of the world, surrendering her own dignity, and abdicating her own greatness 62, or an arrogant and unfeeling tyrant before the demands of natural equilibrium of the world. Each one needs to make the effort to be a humble administrator in the Name of God Who is the sole Lord of the entire created universe [cf. Gn 1:28 63. b. Humility is intimately co-related to Love: Humility finds its energy in love; it is a style of manifesting love. It is received and matures in the contest of trust; it withdraws a person from those preoccupations of guaranteeing oneself, and draws each one toward the one who loves her, is the basis of that peace which flows from communion with the beloved, and leads to bringing oneself into harmony with the other, and moves one to take upon herself the concerns and the suffering of the other, to assume that initiative to make life different, to moderate the care and the worry concerning oneself, establishing thus for all new conditions of existence 64 Humility matures in that balance and fragile and delicate harmony between love for oneself and that for others, lived and seen in the perspective of the love of God. It is bound to the reality of one s person, as it tends to correct the manner of representing one s relationships, to consider them for what they really are, and not as one would like them to be. a man is one who truly is what he is, and not what he may think he is, and the self of each person lives and becomes in a kind of osmosis with others. And thus the life of humility vacillates between what is already, and what has not yet come to be, in an endless process. The goal is to become what each is called to be 65 Humility lives in that balance which springs from that precise area of being loved, and wanting to be loved and of loving 66. 62 cf. POPE JOHN PAUL II, Redemptor Hominis, # 24. 63 cf. E. KACZYNSKI, o.c., p. 1398. 64 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., p. 1619. 65 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., pp. 1617-1618. 66 cf. D. MONGILLO, o.c., p. 1620.